Colordo Springs, Colo. - A trio of Columbia women foilists had strong showings representing the U.S. Fencing team in the Torino Foil World Cup last week, headlined by sophomore Nzingha Prescod’s impressive 10th place finish. Nicole Ross was just as strong finishing 12th, while first-year Margaret Lu fought her way into the pool of 64 before finishing in 58th place.

Prescod was exempt from the pools and preliminary rounds as an eighth seed in the tournament and opened the direct elimination tables with a 15-6 victory over Ye Seul Jang of Korea. She then advanced to the table of 16 after a close 15-13 win over Italy’s Valentin De Costanzo.

It all came down to one final touch as Prescod fell just short to the tournament’s eventual bronze medalist Larisa Korobeynikova of Russia by a 15-14 score.

Ross entered the tournament as a 17th seed, just missing the cut for exemption from the pools. After a 5-1 result in the pools, Ross earned a No. 17 ranking and received the top seed in the preliminary tables, during which she overcame Italian foilist Susanna Napoli, 15-9, to advance to the table of 64.

Ross then won convincing bouts over Argentina’s Flavia Johana Mormandi, 15-5, and Italy’s Ilenia Orsolini, 15-6, in the tables of 64 and 32, respectively. Although it was a tough battle for Ross as she fenced in the table of 16 for the first time in a Senior World Cup, she fought until the very end before she was edged 15-13 by Diana Yakovlev of Russia.

Lu, a three-time Junior World foil medalist, went 3-3 in the pools early before making a comeback in the preliminary table of 64 to win her bout over Julie Groslambert of Belgium by a 15-4 score before falling to Korobeynikova in the table of 64.